Propeller type air circulating fan



NOV. 20, 1934. w ZELLWEGER 1,981,767

PROPELLER TYPE AIR CIRCULATING FAN Filed May 3, 1934 [NVENTOR ALTER ZELLWEGER BY WM.

HTTOQNEYS Patented Nov. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 1,981,767 PROPELLER Am' oIRoULA'rING FAN- Walter Zellweger, St. Louis, Mo. i

I App ication May 3, 1934, SerialNo. 723,668

.7 Claims' (012 1-90)- I This invention relates to air fans of the propeller type, as distinguished from the pressure type, such as are used to circulate a relatively large volume of air at a relatively low velocity and pressure.

The main object of my invention is to provide an air circulating fan of the propeller type, that is equipped with an inexpensive means of simple design for causing the air to be drawn into the fan, then washed and filtered, and thereafter discharged from the fan in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the blades of the fan. i

Another object is to provide a portable electric air fan of the kind that is used to circulate air in a room or part of a room, which is equipped with a filtering device, and a means for applying wash water to said filtering device, constructed so that the same water will be re-circulated or 20 passed time and again through the filtering device.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a front elevational view of my improved fan.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and Y Figures 3 and 4 are vertical sectional views, illustrating other forms of my invention.

In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing A designates an electric motor carried by a pedestal 1 mounted on a portable base 2, and B designates the blades of a propeller type air circulating fan operated by said motor andconstructed so that the air drawn into the fan will be discharged forwardly from the fan blades in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the blades, as indicated by the arrows x in Figure 2. The fan is equipped with a filtering device C through which the air passes before beingdisch'arged from the blades B, and a meansD is provided for applying wash Water to said filtering device. Various types or kinds of filtering devices may be used, but I prefer to employ an annular or ring-shaped filtering element C constructed of wire mesh or any other suitable filtering material, and ar- 45 ranged vertically in concentric relation with the fan blades B between said blades and the point at which the air enters the'fan. In the fan illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 the filtering ring C rotates with the blades B and is carried by a vertically-disposed, rotatable disk 3 that is attached to the shaft 4 of the motor A, the eye or air intake of the fan being formed by a stationary tubular casing member 5 arranged in concentric relation with the filtering ring C and projecting forwardly from the same.v The rearend portion of the air intake -5 surrounds the front end portion of the filtering ring C and is so constructed or proportioned with relation to said filtering ring that the inflowing air (indicated by the arrows y in Figure 2) will not by-pass or short-circuit around the filtering ring, but instead, will enter the inner side of said ring and flow radially through "the same. After passing through the filtering ring C, the air strikes a flared or forwardly inclined baflie or deflector 6, and isdirected by same towards the blades B of the fan, as indicated in Figure 2. The deflector or, bafile 6 is preferablyformed integral with or rigidly connected with the disk 3, and web pieces or vanes 6 are attached to the inner side of said bafile so as to serve as a supporting means for the filtering ring C. At the forward edge of the baffie or deflector'6 is a flange '7 that acts as a support for a vertically-disposed annular memberS to which the fan blades B are rigidly attached, said flange 7 and annular member 8 being spaced apart, so as to permitthe wash water to discharge from the front edge of the bafiiefi and enter a water collectiontrough, which will behereinafter described. The fan blades Bare surrounded by a stationary tubular shaped casing member 9, inside of which the air intake 5 is suspended by means of rods or bolts 10, said casing member 9 being supported in any suitable way on the frame of the motor A, or on a water reservoir, hereinafter referred to. When the motor A is in operation a relatively large volume of air will be drawn inwardly through the intake 5, thence through the filter ring 6, and thence discharged forward: 1y. at a relatively low velocity and pressure, through the annular outlet at the front side of the fan formed by the concentrically arranged casing members 5 and- 8;

The means previously referred. to that is used to apply wash water to the filtering ring C may be constructed in various ways without departing from the spirit of my invention. One convenient and inexpensive way of constructing the fan is to equip it with one or more supply pipes D connected with a water reservoir E and arranged so as to discharge water onto the inner side of the filtering device C at such a rate as to keep said filtering device in a moist or saturated and clean condition. The water reservoir E is'arranged high enough so that'water will flow from same by gravity to the device D which applies the water to the filtering ring. In order that the apparatus will be a complete, portable unitthat maybe used in a room where a source of supply of water is not available, means is provided for re-circulating the wash water or using the same water over and over again for wetting the filtering ring C. Said re-circulating means is herein illustrated as comprising a rotatable water collection trough of approximately circular shape, disposed so that the wash water, after passing through the filtering ring C, will be thrown by centrifugal force into said trough, and one or more skimming nozzles positioned in said water collection trough in such a way as to pick up water from said trough and convey said water back to the reservoir E. The water collection trough just referred to is formed preferably by the annular member 8 that carries the fan blades and a cO-operating frusto-conicalshaped member 11 attached to the outer edge of said annular member 8 and projecting rearwardly from same, as shown in Figure 2, said member 11 being provided at its rear end with an inwardly-projecting lip 12 that prevents water from working rearwardly over the inner face of the member 11 and being thrown from the rear edge of said member when the fan is coming to rest. One or more skimming nozzles 13 are positioned in the water collection trough referably at the upper side of same, as shown in Figure 2, the skimming nozzles 13 being so proportioned and arranged that some of the water in the collection trough will be skimmed off by the nozzle and conveyed back to the water reservoir E with which the nozzle is connected. It will thus be seen that in my improved fan the water that is applied to the inner side of the filtering ring 0 by the device D will travel outwardly or radially through said filtering ring, will then strike the bailie or deflector 6, and will then be thrown centrifugally from the front edge of said baille into the water collection trough, where it is held by the centrifugal force produced by the rotary movement of said trough, the supply or" water to the device D being so regulated that the water will be returned from the trough to the reservoir E by the skimming nozzle 13 at a rate fast enough to prevent the collection trough from overflowing when the fan is in operation. The casing member 9 that surrounds the fan blades acts as a shield which intercepts any spray that might be thrown outwardly from the rotatable elements of the fan when the motor A is in operation. In the event there is an excess quantity of water in the collection trough when the motor stops, such excess water overflows from the lower portion of said trough through the space between the flange '7 and annular member 8, and then flows through a drain opening 14 at the lower side of the easing member 9, and discharged into a removable water pan 15 carried by the base 2 of the fan.

The water reservoir E may be of any preferred shape and construction and mounted or supported in any suitable way. It is herein illustrated as being of substantially oblong shape and supported on the frame of the motor A by retaining or supporting devices 16, as shown in Figure 2. Said reservoir E is equipped with a control valve 17 for regulating or cutting off the supply of water to the water applying device D, and in order that the supply of water to said device will be sure to be cut off, when the motor A is stopped, the control switch for the energizing circuit of said motor is operatively connected with the water controlled valve 1'? in such a way that the act of opening said switch causes the water control valve to close and vice versa. In Figure 2 I have shown the water control valve 1'? as being provided with an actuating device 13 that is attached to the actuating device 19 of the control switch for the motor A, but it will be obvious that various other means may be employed to cause the water control valve and the switch for the motor A to operate in unison. Moreover, while I prefer to construct the fan so that the supply of Water to the device D will be established and out ch simultaneously with the operation of starting and stopping the motor A, this is not essential, as the water control valve and the control switch of the motor A may be operated independently of each other.

It is not essential that the air be drawn into the fan at the front side of the fan through a tubular intake, as shown in Figure 2. If desired, said tubular intake may be omitted and the filtering ring C mounted on the rear side of a supporting disk 3 attached to the shaft 4 of the motor A, as shown in Figure 3, the fan blades B being carried by a separate and distinct disk 3* that is attached to the shaft of the motor at a point in front of the disk 3*. In such a fan the air enters the inner side of the filter ring C at the rear end of said ring, and thence flows radially through the ring to the baffle or deflector 6, which deflects said air forwardly to the fan blades, as previously explained. In all other respects the fan illustrated in Figure 3 is substantially the same as that shown in Figure 2, with the exception that the annular member 8 that forms the front wall of the water collection trough is carried by the fan blades B, instead of acting as a support for said fan blades.

Figure 4 illustrates an air circulating fan embodying my invention and provided with one or more substantially disk-shaped filtering devices 0 arranged at right angles to the shaft 1 of the motor A at the rear side of a plurality of substantially spiral or propeller type fan blades 13 that are attached to the motor shaft, whereby when the motor is in operation air will be drawn forwardly through the filtering disk 7 C and thence discharged forwardly from the blades of the fan in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the fan blades, as indicated by the arrows :12. The filtering device C rotates with the fan blades and is supplied with water by a device D, arranged so as to discharge water onto the rear side of the filtering device C preferably adjacent the center of same.

An air circulating fan of the construction above described will efiectively clean, humidify and cool the air handled by the fan, and it has the added advantage of being constructed in the form of an easily portable unit which has built into same a means for re-circulating wash water over or through a filtering element through which all of the air passes before being discharged forwardly from the blades of the fan.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A propeller type air circulating fan provided with rotatable blades disposed so that the air handled by the fan will be discharged forwardly from the blades in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the blades, a rotatable filtering device, means for applying water to said filtering device, and a rotatable water collection trough that receives or collects water discharged from said filtering device.

2. A propeller type air circulating fan provided with rotatable blades disposed so that the air handled by the fan will be discharged forwardly from the blades in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the blades, a rotatable filtering device, means for applying water to said device, a rotatable water collection trough, and a shield or bafile disposed so as to intercept water discharged from said filtering device and direct said water into said trough.

3. A, propeller type air circulating fan of the kind described in claim 1, provided with means for permitting water to escape from the water collection trough at such a rate when the fan is in operation, that said trough will not overflow.

4. A propeller type air circulating fan provided with rotatable blades disposed so that the air handled by the fan will be discharged forwardly from the blades in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the blades, a rotatable filtering device through which the air passes before it is discharged from the 'fan blades, means for applying water to said filtering device, a reservoir from which water is supplied to said means,-

and means for returning to the reservoir water that has acted on the filtering device.

5. A propeller type air circulating fan provided with rotatable blades disposed so that the air handled by the fan will be discharged forwardly from the blades in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the blades, a rotatable filtering device through which the air passes before being discharged from the fan blades, a baffle or deflector combined with said filtering device and constructed so as to cause the air that has passed through the filtering device to be directed towards the fan blades, means for applying wash water to the filtering device, and a rotatable Water collection trough arranged so that water will be thrown into same by centrifugal force from said bafile or deflector.

6. A propeller type air circulating fan provided with rotatable blades disposed so that the air handled by the fan will be discharged forwardly from the blades in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the blades, a rotatable filtering device through which the air passes before being discharged from the fan blades, a bafiie or deflector combined with said filtering device and constructed so as to cause the air that has passed through the filtering device to be directed towards the fan blades, means for applying wash water to the filtering device, a rotatable water collection trougharranged so that water will be thrown into same by centrifugal force from said baiile or deflector, a water reservoir from which water is supplied by gravity to the water applying means-associated with the filtering device, and a skimming nozzle for removing Water from said collection trough and returning such water to said reservoir. I

7. A propeller type air circulating fan, comprising a portable electric motor, fan blades operated by said motor and disposed so that the air handled by the fan will be discharged forwardly from said blades in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the blades, a rotatable filtering element operated by said motor and arranged so that the air will pass through same before being discharged from the fan blades, a device for discharging water onto said filtering element, a rotatable baflie surrounding the filtering element for directing air towards the blades of the fan and for intercepting water that is thrown from the filtering element by said centrifugal force, a rotatable Water collection trough arranged so that water will be thrown into same by centrifugal force from the edge of said baffle, a water reservoir combined with the motor so as to be movable with the same, and means for returning water from said collection trough to said reservoir.

WALTER ZELLWEGER. 

